Help keep RxBOX growing in the new year

DUPAGE COUNTY--With the amount of medications collected in the RxBOX program increasing each year, the DuPage County Health Department is encouraging residents to make a New Year's resolution to participate in RxBOX in 2013.

Launched by the Health Department in 2009, the RxBOX program has now collected a total of 26,282 pounds or 13 tons of medications in the past four years. Approximately 11,000 pounds--or 5.5 tons--of unwanted medications were deposited in 2012, compared to approximately 7,000 pounds during the previous year.

Contact information ( * required )

RxBOX is a free service offered to DuPage County residents by the Health Department, in partnership with a dozen municipal and county law enforcement agencies, to safely remove unwanted medications from homes, as well as keep prescriptions away from teens and contribute to a better environment.

Residents are encouraged to cleaning out their medicine cabinets in 2013 and drop off unwanted prescriptions at a participating police department that is convenient for them.

Studies show that every day approximately 2,500 teens get high for the first time on prescription drugs. A majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including the home medicine cabinet.

RxBOX collects medications that otherwise might have been flushed down the drain or placed in the garbage. The materials are removed periodically from the RxBOX locations and safely incinerated by a contractor provided by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency using state-of-the-art technology.

Residents can dispose of their old medications at any of the following RxBOX locations: